Nudging the intensity upward during a warm week

I started Tuesday with a gym session.  Then I went downtown to paddle for 60 minutes.  As I left the harbor and paddled up the Mississippi there was a barge rig moving upstream making some nice waves, and wistfully I looked forward to late spring and summer when I can surf without being doused with frigid water.  For now I would have to settle for daydreaming, because not only is the water too cold but also I'm easing back into paddling from this lat muscle injury and don't need to be throwing down a bunch of hard sprints.

The Mississippi River is on a big rise right now.  Just a few days ago the Memphis gauge reading was around 10 feet, but the heavy rain that we had here last week moved eastward into the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio watersheds, and the current forecast says we'll be up around 22.5 feet by early next week.  With more rain and snow moving across the nation this week, that figure could be revised upward soon.

Yesterday the Fahrenheit temperature rose into the mid 70s... most unusual for late February.  It was also very windy and rain was on its way, but I managed to get out for a relaxed bike ride in the early afternoon before the precipitation arrived.

It was still very warm this morning.  There's a fierce winter storm moving across much of the country right now, but you wouldn't know it here in the Mid South.  There was a layer of fog over the water down on the riverfront this morning.  I warmed up for 15 minutes and then did a set of three 8-stroke sprints for the first time since injuring my lat muscle over two weeks ago.  This time the muscle held up okay even though I could feel a hint of soreness there.  My sprint form felt very rusty, though; in fact I felt generally tired in the boat for some reason, but after doing the sprints I settled into a tempo piece for about 25 minutes.  My stroke rate was between 70 and 75 strokes per minute and I tried to stay relaxed and not wear myself out with the semi-taxing pace.

My first race of the year is four weeks from this Saturday.  Hopefully my body will continue to be healthy enough for some increased intensity in the coming days.

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